December
17th,
at 8:00 PM, the Baltimore community will host an event of critical
importance to the Orthodox Jewish Community. The goal is to raise
awareness of mental health issues in our community and to provide
detailed information as to how one can seek professional assistance for
those in need. The title of the event is: One Crucial Night to Raise
Mental Health Awareness. It will be held at Bnai Jacob Shaarei Zion
synagogue in Baltimore.The
program will stream LIVE on TorahAnytime.com, TheYeshivaWorld.com and
Matzav.com.The
event was planned by Mrs. Suzann Lasson MOTR/L, an occupational
therapist with a specialty in behavioral health at Levindale Hebrew
Geriatric hospital with 15 years’ experience in facilitating group
psycho-social therapy groups and individual therapy. Her
co-organizers included Rabbi Yisrael Slansky, Director of Baltimore’s
RELIEF Resources Services, and Eric Reitberger, president of Bikur
Cholim of Baltimore.

In addition to
raising mental health awareness the program will seek to reduce stigma;
increase community support; and encourage people to seek treatment,
therapy and medication to enable them to live mentally healthy and
productive lives. Education packets, brochures, and handouts will be
available for download with information on an array of topics including
warning signs, myths about mental illness and psychotherapy, and a list
of local organizations that provide mental health services.

The first
speaker willbe Rabbi Ephraim Eliyahu Shapiro, Mara D'Asra of Shaaray
Tefilah Congregation in North Miami Beach, Florida, a world-renowned
speaker. His topic will be: The importance of getting help from a Torah
perspective. The second speaker will be Dr. Norman Blumenthal,
psychologist and Director of the OHEL Miriam Center for Trauma,
Bereavement and Crisis Response. His topic will be: The definition of
mental-emotional health; understanding what it means; when to seek
professional assistance; and how therapy helps. The program will be
moderated by Rabbi Yisrael Slansky, Director of RELIEF Resources
Services of the Baltimore Division. Rabbi Slansky will provide detailed
information as to how one can go about seeking help and a detailed
explanation as to how RELIEF helps individuals and families seek
professional help.

This event is
graciously sponsored by: Levindale Hospital, Sinai Hospital, Bikur
Cholim, RELIEF Resources, Ohel New York, Ahavas Yisrael, Hatzalah,
CBMI/Lev Shlomo, Jewish Caring Network and Jewish Community
Services. Sign language will be made available for the deaf
and hard of hearing through JADE, (Jewish Advocates for Deaf Education)
by its director, Yael Zelinger. Live-Streaming will be made possible by
Yosef Davis, Moshe Sofer and Meir Sommers of TorahAnytime.
Below is an
article by Mrs. Suzann Lasson MOTR/L, the primary force behind this
event, presenting the background and purpose of this program.
The Key to
Unlocking Closed Doors

I have wanted
to put together an event to raise mental health awareness in the
Orthodox Jewish community for years, ever since I started working on an
acute psychiatric unit fifteen years ago as an occupational therapist.
For some background, occupational therapy started in 1917 in mental
health facilities and then for soldiers returning from war in order to
provide purposeful and meaningful activities via crafts and manual
tasks. Occupational therapy then expanded to include psycho-social
group therapy. As most occupational therapists have moved away from its
origin and toward more physical disabilities, a small population of OTs
still work in psychiatric settings.

During the five
years I worked on an acute psychiatric unit, I saw just a few religious
Jews. The exact number is three. And I still think about them.

I evaluated a
20-year-old Orthodox Jewish male for occupational therapy. He was
diagnosed with major depression. When I asked him, “Who is your support
system?”, he answered, “No one.” When I inquired further about his
family or friends, he answered in the negative. Then I asked him if he
could speak with his Rav, as many Rabbanim are trained in psychology.
He said, “I can’t speak to anyone because if I do I will never get a
shidduch.”

The second
encounter I had on the acute psychiatric unit was also a young male in
his 20s from the Orthodox Jewish community. At that time, the estimated
length of stay on an acute psychiatric unit was 1-3 days. This male was
admitted sometime over the weekend. I never treated him. However, when
I walked on the unit on Monday, and he recognized me as an Orthodox
Jew, he came over to me and said, “If you ever see me in the community,
pretend you never saw me.”

The last
religious Jewish patient I treated on the psychiatric unit was a young
mother with many children, including a baby. She was diagnosed with
postpartum depression, which consisted of symptoms such as extreme
melancholy, anhedonia (loss of pleasure in once-enjoyable activities)
and feelings of guilt over not being able to care for her children.

You may be
wondering: does depression effect one ethnic group more than another?
The answer is no. Depression, as well as any mental illness, can affect
anyone of any race, culture, ethnicity and age.

I have moved on
to working in geriatric psychiatry at Levindale Hebrew Geriatric
hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, for the last 10 years. Levindale’s
specialty hospital is composed of four units of 20 beds each on the
behavioral health units. Occupational therapists evaluate patients in
the following main performance areas: ADL (activities of daily living,
include self-care and functional transfers), cognition, upper-extremity
strength and range of motion, and psycho-social factors, which include
stress, coping skills, frustration tolerance, assertiveness and impulse
control. Both short-and long-term goals are documented in order to
address problem areas such as depression, anxiety, and dementia.
Occupational therapists run daily group therapy to include such topics
as anxiety and depression management, coping skills, assertiveness,
anger management, how to speak about mental illness, and positive
thinking specifically geared toward older adults, age 55 and older. I
have a rolling cart filled with alphabetical folders containing various
group topics. Occupational therapists also facilitate life-skills
groups, including fall prevention, body mechanics, safety skills
training, and exercise as a coping skill. At Levindale, I can recall
treating a few religious Jewish men, but not one religious woman comes
to mind.

There is
another factor in my determination of pursuing a mental health event
for the religious community. Each year, there have been 1-3 young
Jewish men who have ended their lives through suicide. Some have left
messages on their Facebook pages, including cries for help and
near-misses. Some of their deaths have been associated with addiction.
And some are due to under-treated mental illness such as depression,
bipolar disorder or even anxiety (thoughts of death and suicide are
also common symptoms of anxiety). After suicide, there has been no
public word about mental illness. And the crisis continues.

There have been
speakers who have addressed grief and loss, even addiction. But this is
a Band-Aid, a temporary fix or comfort. The real issues of “why” are
not talked about; triggers are not addressed; the underlying mental
illness is not addressed. And history repeats itself.

To me, this is
unsatisfactory. Change can only come once we recognize and speak openly
about mental health issues, support one another, and encourage others
to seek help. Once mental illness is managed, people can live
productive lives in their life roles. When mental illness is not
treated or when people -- especially young people -- are stigmatized
and made to feel shame, their lives become bleak and unstable.

For someone who
has never suffered from a mental illness, it is hard to relate to
someone who has. One may even fear it is contagious or believe that all
people with mental illness are violent or, at the very least, unstable.

According to
NAMI, the National Alliance of the Mentally Ill, one in every four
people will experience mental illness at some time in their lives,
whether mild to severe. With proper treatment and medication, mental
illness can be manageable. Just like a physical illness, such as
diabetes or high cholesterol, mental illness is treatable, by having
regular visits to a psychiatrist of psychiatric nurse practitioner,
being prescribed medications, having routine individual and/or group
therapy with a therapist or psychologist, and through implementation of
coping skills such as exercise, prayer, having a support system, and
keeping occupied via meaningful activity. People with mental illness
can live productive lives as much as people without mental illness live
their lives. And, if a relapse occurs, it is okay to seek help.

RELIEF
Resources is a non-profit orgnization whose mission is to provide
access to the best mental health resources available. This is
accomplished through Relief's highly-acclaimed referral service, where
a trained referral specialist will help you navigate the process of
finding the best resources for your particular need. Relief maintains
an extensive database of qualified mental health providers with
comprehensive information regarding, range of specialty, location,
therapeutic technique, and insurance participation. For assistance,
call: